For companies, there are plenty of arguments for employees to accept work-from-home positions. Research shows that remote workers are more productive, but businesses can save all that overhead by having smaller centralized offices or ditching them entirely. WordPress is one of the largest content management systems in the world, has a 100% remote workforce and works well.
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Of course, there are some industries where working from home is impossible. Still, there are plenty of industries that have a hard time objecting to having largely employee-based remote workers.
While there are certainly plenty of employees who get more work done while working from home, some are trying to “cheat” the system and take advantage of not being in the presence of their managers.
For example, Elon Musk’s announcement that all Tesla employees will need to return to the office (unless they have a valid reason to work remotely) or that they can “pretend to work elsewhere” exemplifies some companies’ commitment to giving employees autonomy Many worries about working from home.
The now-viral TikTok from user @gabrielle_judge appears to embody that fear.
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What do you think? Is his employer overbearing or is he screwing up? #techlayoffs #overemployment #programming
♬ Oblivion – Grimes Source: TikTok | @gabrielle_judge
Some companies are keenly watching their employees, even working from home, to make sure they’re actually “working” during the allotted hours. For example, apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams will indicate when someone is active on their computer.
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People have come up with some pretty creative solutions to make sure they look like they’re on a work computer when they’re not, and it’s actually pretty simple: mouse jitter. There are mouse shake apps, and there are manual apps that connect to your device and move your mouse to make it look like you’re active.
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Maybe you want to get some chores done when you should be at your desk. Or you have a boss who wants you to sit in front of your computer even after you’ve done your work, so you’re just fiddling with your thumbs when you can work out or get some errands done. Whatever the reason, the employee Gabrielle mentioned decided to install a mouse-jitter app, and their boss found out.
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“Well, today I found out that a guy is about to be fired for having a mouse spinner on his laptop… well, if you don’t know what a mouse spinner is, it’s basically like you can install a mouse spinner on your Software on your laptop that makes your mouse shake at set intervals so your laptop doesn’t fall asleep. This is usually important if you use Teams or Slack as it shows you’re ready to work , but obviously you’re not at the laptop.
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She continued, “So the guy said he used caffeine.exe, the program he used to make sure his mouse was shaking every so often, well, I guess someone like IT sent his boss email, or his boss asked about it or whatever. He was basically saying he was in PIT because of this, so he went into more detail about other things, he said he was because of “power issues” and “Internet Problem “And missed getting up and his boss was really screwed with it.”
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The TikToker continued: “The last straw was that he went to a meeting over the phone and his boss immediately had him talk on video. What were your thoughts? Are these illegal? Should you be fired?”
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TikTokers who commented on the post offered a range of mixed opinions on the matter. Some immediately said the employee’s first mistake was using a virtual mouse spinner, and warned against using the technology on company computers.
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The main reason is that work machines are entirely managed by the company, and IT staff are tasked with overseeing all the applications installed on these machines to ensure they run to company standards. Foreign applications may have security/data breach risks and their job is to minimize this from happening.
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Others say work computers are closely monitored, but others say the particular concern, while unwelcome, likely stems from some sort of occupational issue if the job is so closely monitored by employees. In short: form a perception, then management pays close attention to people who may be getting paid just for doing basically nothing, i.e. not meeting their conditions of employment.
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Many TikTokers cite the “power” and “internet” issues of people Gabrielle talks about as evidence that they may not be doing their jobs as well as they can, and that their bosses may be watching closely if they keep showing up to make excuses Why they didn’t show up for team meetings and online discussions.
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Other reviewers commented that the mouse jiggler app was likely the “last straw” for worker managers, so add up all their past problems with some pretty hard evidence that they pretended to look like they did when they were online No disciplinary action resulted.
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What do you think? Should employees be penalized for using shakers?